Titan measures cement kiln potential in heat battery technology investment

Titan Cement Group, Athens, has joined a venture capital funding round for Oakland, Calif.-based Rondo Energy Inc., whose heat battery technology holds prospects for decarbonizing cement production and power generation. The modular Rondo Heat Battery uses established methods to transform renewable electricity into heat at 98 percent efficiency, and has potential for high scalability at costs competitive with current energy…

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Natural gas-powered mixers, tractors roll into Cemex fleet

In one of the latest moves to achieve carbon neutrality in cement, aggregate and concrete production and delivery by 2050, Cemex USA has added 30 mixer trucks and eight tractors, all running on compressed natural gas or renewable natural gas. The vehicles are earmarked for the Lytle Creek operation in Rialto, Calif., where work on natural gas compressor and fueling…

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Cummins President, COO Rumsey succeeds CEO Linebarger

Cummins Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Rumsey succeeds CEO Tom Linebarger this month, becoming the first woman and seventh individual to hold the title since the engine manufacturer’s 1919 founding. A 30-year Cummins veteran, Linebarger will continue to serve as chairman of the board and in an executive chairman role, working with Rumsey on initiatives that include completing…

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Permit compliance app paves Holcim Group ESG path

Chicago-based Holcim US will soon complete deployment of the Connected Worker environmental compliance platform throughout cement, aggregate and ready mixed operations. San Francisco software developer Parsable bills Connected Worker as a combination of a no-code platform and easy-to-use mobile app. The technology enables Holcim US to capture, record and analyze environmental work data in near real time, ultimately decreasing compliance…

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Holcim steers Lattimore, sister Texas brands under corporate banner

Holcim US is uniting its Texas brands—Lattimore Materials, Tarrant Concrete, Colorado River Concrete—under the Holcim banner, alongside the producer’s Midlothian cement plant south of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. The regional rebrand will advance “big ideas and innovations to build progress for people in the Lone Star State,” yet maintain the existing teams and products responsible for unmatched customer satisfaction, management…

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Lehigh Cement crews keep Indiana plant expansion on track for 2023

Lehigh Hanson Inc. has marked placement of the final segment of the steel stack abutting a new preheater tower at the Lehigh Cement Mitchell Plant in Indiana. Management, construction team members and local dignitaries assembled late last month for a ceremonial topping out. “We are another step closer to realizing completion of this monumental project,” said Lehigh Cement Plant Manager…

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White House salutes insolvent multiemployer pension plan bailouts

The White House has outlined a final rule implementing the American Rescue Plan’s Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program, billed as protecting “millions of workers in multiemployer pension plans who faced significant cuts to their benefits.” Before American Rescue, retirees participating in more than 200 multiemployer pension plans faced the prospect of not receiving full benefits—often the consequence of past financial…

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Life cycle assessment standards group revises PCR and EPD preparation guide

“2022 ACLCA PCR Guidance – Process and Methods Toolkit: Creating standardized, consistent, and reliable PCRs & EPDs for transparency, procurement, and supply chain data” provides process checklists for each of the roles in product category rule (PCR) creation. A successor to charter 2013 guidance, the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) document features methods and methodologies addenda to raise…

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FHWA sketches transportation greenhouse gas emission reduction framework

The U.S. Department of Transportation has opened a public comment period for a Federal Highway Administration Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for states and municipalities to track and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes more than $27 billion available for state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to meet a declining GHG emissions…

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ABC: Registered apprenticeship system no match for skilled labor needs

It would take 14 years for federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs to educate the 650,000 workers the construction industry needs to hire in 2022, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data from 2021. DOL figures indicate that the construction industry’s federal government-registered apprenticeship system produced just 24,822 completers of its four- to…

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